Kurowulf
by Decadent Meerkat
Summary: King Hrothgar of the Danes needs to get rid of the evil Grendel - so summons Sebastian to do the job (though obviously he isn't called Sebastian here). A Beowulf/Kuroshitsuji cross-over, written in Old English-style alliterative verse.
1. Chapter 1

… _Wa bið þæm ðe sceal__  
__þurh sliðne nið sawle bescufan__  
__in fyres fæþm, frofre ne wenan,__  
__wihte gewendan..._

… _Woe for that man_  
_who in harm and hatred hales his soul_  
_to fiery embraces; — nor favour nor change_  
_awaits he ever._...

- Beowulf (lines 184-187)

**Kurowulf**

The Danes lay dead, each doomed to slaughter,

The bodies of brave men bled upon tables,

The horror of Heorot was hellish and twisted,

Foe had feasted on the faces of Thanes.

Grey-haired and gaunt, the goodly lord Hrothgar

Stepped forward and stared, his stunned face observing

The latest of leavings from relentless night-terror.

How could he hinder this hellish of beasts

And free all his folk from the foul devil-spawn?

The spear of despair spoke of a way,

And heavy of heart, Hrothgar resolved

To offer his all, on Earth and in Heaven.

He would swap his sweet soul to save his own men:

From the grasp of Grendel, who gorged every night,

From that terror, that tyrant, that treader of nightmares,

From that doom of the Danes, that devourer of mortals,

From that moorland murderer of many warriors.

The King's newest course, arcane and obscene

Was to summon a servant of Satan himself,

Befriend a fell fiend and fight the dread Grendel,

Then pay the steep price and depart at ease.

Eternity's torment would test aged Hrothgar:

His agony endless in underworld flame,

His belly and back would grow black 'neath the torture,

The daemon he'd dragged up drinking his pain.

But better a bold man braves this ill fortune,

One soul may suffer to save those of others,

So Hrothgar the Hapless may help his poor people,

Ridding his realm of a rime-hearted foe.

Grendel the ghoul would be gone from these lands,

In Heorot Hall, hearts would be lifted,

And songs might be sung of sweeter occasions,

Free from the fear of foul monster's claws.


	2. Chapter 2

The mist of the moor on that moonlit night

Blanketed boulders, no breeze was there,

But dreams of darkness daunted all asleep.

The doom-filled Dane, his dour countenance

Wrapped in raiment both rough and simple,

Climbed and crept across the heath.

He attained a tombstone, tumbled and old.

There he wrote the runes of royal secrets

He placed the points and pictures ill.

He sought to summon the soul-devourers

For purchase of a promised peace deal.

His burning brand then blazed anew,

That little light, its life restored as

The winds of winter's wiles descended.

This King of Men cursed, and clawed at his face,

The hopes of Hrothgar held in balance:

A spell's success is sweet but perilous.

Verily, a voice of vengeance rang out,

Hate-filled and harsh as hoarfrost.

"Come closer, oh King Hrothgar,

Most dreaded of Danes. A deal you seek?

I shall battle thy beast, and bleed him dry.

I shall fight thy foe, and free thy people.

I ask thee only in earnest truth:

Thy soul. Shall I sup on its sweet essence?

Shall I taste thy torment eternal in Hell?"

Hrothgar held his hands to the heavens.

"I promise thee, oh Prince. A pact I sign.

Malphas the mighty, master of legions,

Hear this bond of blood, and body and soul,

Defeat my foe, and his foul kin,

Revenge the vanquished, victory I crave,

And when the war is won, thou shalt feast."

A caw did come, as of crow in darkness.

The brave man blinked, his body tensed,

Then press of pincers, a pain immense touched

His skin, and so he screamed as the scalding heat

Burnt and blistered to the bone and marrow,

Searing the sign of a Satanic contract.

Something silent had spawned before him

Its figure found form in the flickering light

Tall as a tree, its torso in mail,

Its black hair buffeted, no beard to see,

Angular and artful, its eyes like rubies,

More than a man, a mighty creature

Eldritch and ancient, its evil manifest.

"The merest mortal, yet master thou art,

I serve thy designs, thy soul I am promised.

Find me this foe, and defeat it I shall.

My name thou knowest, I am none other,

Thou callest and I came, the creature before thee is

Malphas the mighty, master of legions."

It laughed and lightning-strikes lashed the far hills.

Heard this did Hrothgar, his heart now a-racing.

"So a slave thou shalt be, and slay Grendel thou shalt.

Thy name I am knowing, yet a new name I give thee.

Thou, daemon, art a dog for the Danish lord's pleasure,

Hrothgar's own hound, a hellish creation.

As Wulf I do ween, thy warrior strength

And speed and shield shall serve me well."


End file.
